Press bed lock-up



Nov 30, 1937. w. H. RITENOUR 2,100,356

PRESS BED LOCK-UP Filed May 4. 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 30, 1937. w H.RITENOUR PRESS BED LOCK-UP Filed May 4. 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,fweniar:

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Nov. 30, 1937. w. H. RITENOUR 2,100,356

PRESS BED LOCK-UP 7 Filed May 4, 1 .933 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 i Z j W- g9,a/;@@;W v64 km. 67

Nov. 30, 1937. w. H. RITENOUR PRESS BED I|OCK-UP Filed May 4, 1935 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Nov. 30, 1937 UNITED STTES PATENT OFFICE 1Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in devices and methods forimposing and looking a type-form for printing purposes.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide locking means wherebythe type units may be originally imposed and locked directly on thepress-bed, without the usual preliminary stone lock-up.

A further object is to provide a printers chase that cannot be sprungout of shape by normal use.

A further object is to provide a printers chase in which the type unitsmay be automatically alined.

A further object is to provide a printers chase that corresponds in itsdivisions according to the size of the sheet employed in working thejob.

A further object is to provide a novel form of spacing material forforming the chase gutters which cannot work-up during the printingoperation.

Additional objects will be readily discerned, or pointed out,hereinafter.

Heretofore it has been the universal custom to impose the type-pages ofa book inside of a chase located on the top of a table known as thestone. The loose type-pages are lifted from their storage galleys andinserted in the form according to their impositional sequence and, sincean ordinary book form embraces at least a thousand separate and distinctlines of type which may be easily transposed in handling, a stone proofis generally pulled and carefully checked before the chase is finallylocked and sent to press. The work is such that it calls for the bestskill in the printing craft. My invention elimihates the stone lock-upentirely.

The excessive quoin pressure that is necessary in the final stonelock-up in order to make portable the inherently inaccurateelements-found in every type-form-will invariably cause a distortion ofthe chase bars-in some type-forms as much as a pica. Accordingly, it hasheretofore been the universal custom among pressmen, when a form isplaced on the press-bed, to release the quoin pressure (originallyexerted at the stone from the inside of the chase) before squeezing thepress clamps against the outside of the chase. But this procedure willnot restore any great degree of accuracy to the form and the resultantimperfect line-up in the printed sheet may be corrected only by a costlyand laborious rejustifying of the form on the press-bed to fit a masterposition sheet. My invention automaticaly linesup each page on its foursides and provides a chase in which the working dimensions are preciseand unalterable.

Heretofore it has been necessary, after the required number ofimpressions have been printed, to again tighten the quoin pressure andremove the form to the stone for the make-over into succeedingtype-pages. My invention provides means and method whereby an entire newform may be imposed and locked directly on the pressbed in less timethan a unitary portable form may be merely removed and replaced.

I-Ieretofore, considerable difiiculty in printing from type-forms hasbeen caused by the workup of gutter spacing material. A reduced pressspeed, compared with that used for printing from plates, has generallybeen found necessary. My invention provides means whereby the guttersare interlocked against work-ups and permits a maximum press speedwithout work-ups.

In the drawings- Figure l is a plan view showing a separable chasestructure and a layout of thirty-two typep Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryenlarged view showing the imposition of the two type-pages representedin the lower right-hand corner of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the chaseshown in Fig. 1;

Fig 4 is an enlarged sectional view through 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my slug-page, shown assembled and readyfor imposition on press-bed;

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one of the justifying strips usedin connection with the chase to form the marginal gutters;

Fig. '7 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of justifyingstrip;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are similar views of still further modified forms ofjustifying strips;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the bed of a fiat-bed printing press, showingmy chase locked thereon.

The chase An individual outfit of separable steel bars 25a, 25b, 26a,26b; 21a, 21h, 28m, 28b, 280, 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d, 29e, 29 as shown inFig. 1, is preferably provided for each sheet size.

The three long cross bars 28 and the six short cross bars 29 arearranged against the two head bars 21 in such dimension as to conformwith the width of the sheet it is desired to print, as follows: The longcross bars 28a, b, 0 should be formed, in length, to correspond to onehalf of the width of the particular size of sheet it is desired to workwith this individual size of chase. Thus, when jointed with head bars210., b the dimension from the center of head bar 21a to center of headbar 27b as shown on the line 2l2l, Fig. 1, is exactly one-half of thegiven sheet width. (This is an important feature of the invention anddoes not pertain to mere dimension alone. It enables the impositor,without previous detailed calculation, to assemble a chase structure inwhich the sections (lockup groups), formed by the bars, conform exactlyto the folds in the subsequently printed sheet. In the usual form ofchase, these sectional divisions are formed by careful and laboriousadjustment of bars and printers spacing material, and no actual divisionof the chase structure itself has heretofore been provided beyond anapproximate positioning of the head bars.) The six short cross bars2911, b, c, d, e, j, which adjoin the two-page groups, may be formedlonger than their proportionate sheet-width dimension, since theirlength manifestly does not affect the folded divisions of the printedsheet. The three long cross bars 28 and the six short cross bars 29 arefurther disposed in regard to the sheet length as follows: The insidelength of chase, from inside edge of end bar 25a. to inside edge ofendbar 252), is preferably the exact length of the sheet to be worked,and is so represented in Fig. 1. Cross bars 29b, 28b, 29c, divide thechase in the exact center; cross bars 29a, 28a, 29d, divide the chaseinto quarter-sheet-length sections on the left, and cross bars 290, 28c,29 divide the chase into quarter-sheet-length sections on the right, sothat exactly one half of the sheet length is represented on the line29-29 of Fig. 1.

The cross bars 28, 29 thus form a series of transverse spacing memberswhich serve four distinct purposes: (a) In combination with theadjoining spacing strips, they form margin space, and, in this onerespect, only, correspond with the conventional chase assembly; (b) theybear against and rigidly position the head bars 21a, 1); (0) they dividethe chase structure into twelve sections: four four-page-lock-up groups,and eight two-page-lock-up groups; (d) they provide a bearing for one ofthe longitudinal sides on each type-page.

It is pointed out that heretofore it has been the invariable custom todetermine the imposition of a type-form in a chase by means of spacingmaterial, suitably arranged against the bars of the chase, which may beadaptable to various sheet sizes; in my invention the imposition of thetype-form is predetermined by the arrangement of the bars comprising thechase, which is adapted to one specific size. In other Words, theconventional method of imposition may cause the folds of thesubsequently-printed sheet to register with either the spacing materialor the cross bars in the chase structure; in my invention, the foldsinvariably coincide with the crossbar structure. In Fig. 1 the crossbars 218, 29 coincide with the outside margins.

The form of chase shown in Fig. 1 is not intended to be adjustable. Thesteel bars comprising the chase represented in Fig. 1 (which has beenscaled to a sheet size of substantially 30 x 41 inches) are preferably 1inch wide and of an inch thick, although, due to the comparatively lightquoin squeeze used in looking the type-pages, a much thinner bar may besatisfactorily employed. In practise, the mortised butt joint shown inFig. 1 appears to be the most desirable but any style of jointing may beused in assembling the bars, it being manifest that it is not necessaryto tie the bars together for portable use, as in the usual type of chaseconstruction and usual mode of handling.

Figs. 3 and 4 show how the cross bars 28a, 29a are prevented fromworking-up or bulging by the swaged lips 34 of the head bar 21a.

Fig. 11 shows a plan view of the press-bed structure of a cylinderpress, in which are represented the register rack 5|, the bed bearers52, bed bearer screws 53, bed furniture (spacing material) 54a, b, c, d,e, chase clamps 55, chase clamp screws 56, ink plate 51, face of pressbed 58, distributor-roller rack 59, bed gib 69, all of which are regularequipment. In the carryingout of the invention, the bars comprising thechase are first assembled on the press bed 58. A strip of bed furniture54a. of the required thickness is inserted between the chase bar 261)and ink plate 51 to position the printing form in reference to the sheetwidth, and bed furniture 540 between chase bar 25a and bed bearer 52a insimilar manner positions the form in reference to sheet length. Thechase structure is clamped on the press-bed by the quoins 46 and chaseclamps 55, before imposing the type-form elements. The clamping of thechase structure on the bed of a press preliminary to imposingself-contained type-pages therein is a new feature in the art.

Thirty-two pages 35 are imposed in the twelve lock-up groups of chaseshown in Fig. 1. A layout of sixty-four pages is made by dividing theimposition into twenty lock-up groups, comprising twelve lock-up groupsof four pages each and eight lock-up groups of two pages each, in thesame relative manner as shown in Fig. 1. A layout of 128 trade-bookpages, the page-paper-size of which is generally under 6 x 9 inches, maybe imposed on the largest press bed now in use by simply following thesame division of sheet space into similar lock-up groups of four and twopages each. Since each unit is accurately self-contained, and the quoinsqueeze very light, there is no bulge in the chase bars of such a form.It should be pointed out here that, while the original construction of achase to very accurate dimensions involves no novelty, the maintenanceof accurate chase dimensions under all stresses is a radical innovationin the art.

Imposition methods Since permanently precise chase dimensions areprovided by my invention, each item of spacing material for the guttersmay be accurately specified in advance of laying the first form on thepress-bed. All page heads 35a are imposed against the head bars 2lab. A3-point strip or lead 36 is shown interposed in Fig. 2 between the headbar of chase 21a and end bar 4la of type-page 35 in order to provide atop margin of 4 picas and 3 points, disposed as follows: from center toedge of head-bar 21w, 3 picas; strip 36, 3 points; end bar, 4 la, 1pica. Obviously, one 6-point strip might be employed against one sideonly of each head-bar, 21a and 21b and produce the same result. Thestrip 36 is preferably swaged at intervals along its longitudinal edge21, as shown in Fig. 10. The swaged protuberances 3! fit under the loweredge of end bar 41a of type-page 35 (Fig. 5) and prevent the strip 36from working-up during the printing operation.

The outside margin gutter is formed by the spacing material 38, 39, 44placed against the nine transverse bars 28a, b, 29a, b, c, d, e, f, andalso against the two end-bars 25a, 1). Fig. 2 shows adjoining cross bar290 a strip of -point wood reglet 3B bearing pins 46 (Fig. 8) that fitintogroove i3 (Fig. 6) of pica strip 39. Projections 31 similar to thoseshown in Fig. 10 may be swaged in all strips that fit against the endbars 4'! or side-bars d2 of type-page 35. Adjoining end-bar 25b isspacing material comprising one strip of pica 39 (Fig. 6), three stripsof pica i l (Fig. 7), and one strip of I il-point wood reglet 38. Thelug 45 of strip 44 fits into the groove 43 of strip 39; thesecomplementary strips may thus be assembled in interlocking form to anypica dimension.

The inside margin is formed by strip 39 and two expanded quoins 56b. Thefoot margin is formed in two separate assemblies, as clearly shown inFig. 1. The foot quoins 46a. (Fig. 2) are preferably expanded first. Ifthe framed page 35 has been twisted slightly out of shape in handling,as frequently occurs, the expansion of the foot quoin 56a may cause onlya partial bearing of end bar Ma against head bar 21a. The two surfaces,however, are brought into complete alinement when the side quoins 55bare expanded. This vertical movement of the type-page is brought aboutthrough the rocking movement imparted to the foot quoin simultaneouslywith the aforesaid horizontal expansion of the side quoins. Thewell-known Wickersham quoin, United States Patents 496,547 and1,470,297, is employed for this purpose. The result is substantially thesame as if two quoins were first lightly locked at the extremities offoot of page, and the side quoins subsequently expanded. The locking ofa book form by means of quoins placed adjacent to the side and foot ofeach page is a new feature in the art.

The framed slug-page described in my United States Patent No. 1,935,668,and shown herein as Fig. 5, may be imposed directly on the press-bed insubstantially one half of the time usually required for the dualstone-and-press-bed lock-up of non-framed type-pages. Manifestly, sincetranspositions cannot occur in a framed slug-page,

no detailed revision of the assembled form is necessary before actualprinting. The initial imposition on the press-bed of a form comprised ofself-contained type-pages is a radical deviation from previous methods.

Summary The invention disclosed herein clearly shows how (a) a formcomprising a plurality of selfcontained type-pages (b) may be originallylocked on the press-bed (0) without spreading the bars ((2) in a chasedivided into lock-up groups wherein (e) each page is automaticallyalined against fixed bars and (f) is surrounded by interlockingfurniture which cannot work-up. These major features have beenthoroughly tested in practical use and have proved of great advantage.The description of the means employed in carrying out the invention isfor the purpose of example only and the invention is not limited to anyparticular form of structure. Many modifications will suggest themselvesto the skilled mechanic. Thus, a chase of conventional design may beless advantageously employed for press-bed imposition in the mannerherein described and still come within the scope of the claim. Broadlyexpressed, the essence of the invention resides in the press-bedimposition of a plurality of selfcontained slug-pages.

I claim- In combination, a flat press bed and an assembled book-chasestructure comprising a plurality of longitudinal head bars 21 dividingthe space parallelly within the two outside bars 26 into sectionswherein the heads of the type-pages squeeze against the longitudinalhead bars 21 by locking means employed at the feet of the type pages;and a plurality of transverse bars 28, 29 jointing the longitudinal bars21 at right angles and dividing the space parallelly between the outsidebars 25 into sections of two pages capacity setwise wherein the oppositesides of the typepages will squeeze against the transverse bars 25, 28,29 by locking means employed at the sides of the type-pages.

WILLIAM H. RITENOUR.

